Naviagate to a (new) directory where you want to create your AngularJS and node.js app and initiate the generator then follow the prompts:

$ yo mean-seed

NOTE: you can also (first) create a yo-configs folder with .json files for the prompts so you don't have to type them all out. This is useful for storing multiple different configurations for different projects - just tell the generator which config to use and you're all set! See the yo_configs folder for examples.

NOTE: if you get errors (i.e. npm or bower install failures or timeouts, which aren't uncommon), just re-run the command yo mean-seed OR re-run just the problematic parts, i.e. bower update && bower install and/or npm install. Once everything has installed properly, just make sure to run grunt: grunt q

NOTE: if you get an EACCESS / permission denied error during the npm install, find the folder that had permissions issues (from the log output) and run sudo chown -R $USER [path to problematic folder].

You CAN and SHOULD keep your project up to date with the core (seed) generator you used as it goes through version upgrades. Just re-run:

Ensure the generator is up to date:

npm install -g generator-mean-seed

Pull in updates to your project (core/seed - make sure to select the same core you used originally). Just type 'a' (for overwrite all) if you get prompted about file conflicts - we'll handle those with Git merge later so it's safe to overwrite everything in the generator branch.

yo mean-seed

Then if you push, make SURE to ALSO push the/any yo branches (i.e. git push origin yo-core-default) so other developers get that branch and stay up to date.

while you can fork on Github, we're actually trying a new approach of leveraging Yeoman for different 'core' builds to avoid all the forks. The reason for 'forking' a project is to change it and add functionality that conflicts with or would add too much code bloat to the original repository. However, with Yeoman, we can add EVERYTHING into this ONE project and by using generators, the end user/developer can take ONLY what (s)he wants. So there's no code bloat or worry of this becoming a "kitchen sink" seed with too many features. That's the beauty of Yeoman! So, to contribute, build another subgenerator - either a 'core' generator or a 'module' generator. All the 'core' generators essentially become like the typical 'forks' - a user will decide what core (s)he wants to use and THEN what modules to include with that core.

core: see the core-default folder/generator for an example

module: see the ng-route folder/generator for an example

NOTE: You will still have to fork the project to develop / contribute; but the point is that we should be able to pull-request all forks into the main fork (assuming code quality of course) so shouldn't need any forks that aren't just being used for development. With ONE source of truth and ONE 'production' fork, we should be able to keep everything in sync and up to date rather than changes in one fork not being supported in all other forks.

NOTE: this is still a new idea/approach to contributing and is a work in progress - suggestions welcome! Or if you just think this is a stupid idea feel free to let us know that too - though constructive criticism is always appreciated ;)